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News Release - July 20, 2018

Council Allocates Additional $48 Million to Most Underfunded Trial Courts

At its July 20 business meeting, the Judicial Council approved funding for the state’s 58 trial courts, including $47.8 million in new funding to boost the budgets of the neediest courts.

Feature - December 20, 2021

2021 Year in Review: Judicial Council of California

In 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic continued to challenge the state’s ability to ensure access to justice for the citizens of California. But like the previous year, California’s Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye and the Judicial Council supported the courts as they remained flexible and innovative to ensure the justice system was open and vital services remained accessible to the public.

News Release - November 19, 2021

Council Receives Strategies for Helping Court Users at Risk of Becoming Homeless

Also approved revision to standard promoting an environment free of bias in court proceedings and declared November to be Court Adoption and Permanency Month

Judicial Council

Meeting information

Judicial Council

Judicial Council Meeting

Chief Justice

News Release - May 2, 2019

Chief Justice Appoints New Members to Judicial Council

Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye made new appointments to the Judicial Council, the policymaking body of the California courts.

Feature - June 17, 2019

Lessons from the Old Courthouse in El Centro

In a commentary, Justice Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar reflects on growing up in the Imperial Valley and progress achieved through the Keeping Kids in School and Out of Court Initiative.

Keeping Kids In School

Imperial

Justice Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar of the California Supreme Court

Feature - January 3, 2018

Courts Help Put New Laws into Effect

In 2018, a number of new laws were created in the hope of expanding the rights of Californians through the court system.

Judicial Council

Criminal Justice Reform

Feature - September 18, 2018

"You either self-destruct or you become a champion for others."

A Q&A with Judge Donna Groman, a 2018 Distinguished Service Award recipient, who overcame a tough childhood to become an advocate for California's at-risk youth.

Los Angeles

Criminal Justice Reform

Keeping Kids In School

News Release - April 15, 2016

Council Facilitates Juvenile System Reforms

SAN FRANCISCO—At its public meeting on April 15, the Judicial Council changed court rules and forms to implement reforms targeting those coming to family and juvenile courts. One action dealt with the implementation of a new law that changes the...

Judicial Council

Judicial Council Meeting Information

Civics

Pretrial

Judicial Council

High school senior Christian Nuñez, who didn’t know English when he emigrated to the United States at age 14, spoke about learning about the Bill of Rights on the first day of his U.S. history class. View on YouTube

Feature - July 5, 2017

Taking Minor Traffic Tickets out of Criminal Court

A new proposal by the Commission on the Future of California’s Court System seeks to do away with the oversized consequences of traffic tickets by making minor offenses civil violations.

Report to the Chief Justice: Commission on the Future of California's Court Sys…

Ventura

Chief Justice

Criminal Justice Reform

News Release - October 24, 2017

Chief Justice Workgroup: Money Bail is “Unsafe and Unfair”

A workgroup established by Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye to study California’s bail system issued a slate of recommendations Tuesday, saying money bail should be replaced by a risk-based assessment and supervision program that determines whether to jail defendants before trial based on their threat to public safety and their likelihood of making a court appearance.

Pretrial Detention Reform Workgroup

Criminal Justice Reform

Bail

News Release - November 14, 2019

Council Approves Priority List for New Courthouse Construction

At its Nov. 14 meeting, the council also adjusted the scoring process and criteria used to create the priority list.

Judicial Council

Meeting information

Courthouse Construction Explained

Judicial Council

Facilities

Justice Brad Hill (right) explains how public comment helped his committee finalize the priority list for new courthouse construction projects. Judge Steven Jahr (Ret.) (left) later took the council through the reprioritization process.

News Release - April 6, 2020

Judicial Council Adopts New Rules to Lower Jail Population, Suspend Evictions and Foreclosures

At its meeting today, the council approved 11 temporary emergency rules, including setting bail statewide at $0 for misdemeanors and lower-level felonies and staying eviction and foreclosure proceedings.

Judicial Council

Meeting information

Emergency rules approved

Judicial Council